Pione Sisto

Pione Sisto Ifolo Emirmija (Danish pronunciation: [pʰiˈoːnə ˈsisto]; born 4 February 1995) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Spanish club Celta Vigo and the Danish national team.

Pione Sisto
Sisto with Celta in 2018
Personal information
Full name Pione Sisto Ifolo Emirmija
Date of birth (1995-02-04) 4 February 1995
Place of birth Kampala, Uganda
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Celta
Number 11
Youth career
2002–2010 Tjørring
2010–2013 Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Midtjylland 90 (20)
2016– Celta 110 (12)
National team‡
2015–2016 Denmark U21 6 (4)
2015– Denmark 21 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 July 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 October 2018

He began his professional career with FC Midtjylland of the Danish Superliga, making 113 total appearances and scoring 31 goals over five seasons. In 2016 he transferred to Celta Vigo for a €5 million fee. He made his senior debut for the Denmark national team in 2015, and was part of their squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Born in Kampala, Uganda, to South Sudanese parents,[2] Sisto moved to Denmark at the age of two months. He was spotted by Tjørring IF in 2002, aged seven, and moved to FC Midtjylland’s youth setup in 2010.[3]

Midtjylland

Sisto made his league debut during the 2012–13 Danish Superliga season and scored his first professional goal during the same season in the match against AGF Århus. On 2 March 2014, he scored twice in FC Midtjylland's 5–1 away victory over F.C. København in the Danish Superliga.

In December 2014, Sisto was voted "Player of the Year 2014" by the Danish Footballers' Association and "Profile of the Autumn 2014" by the Danish Football Magazine.

After an injury he played his first club match in 2015 in May coming on as a substitute against F.C. København. Shortly after he made an assist for the game's first goal followed by scoring the deciding goal, giving FCM a 2–0 victory to win their first Danish league title.

Scouts from Barcelona, Milan, Juventus and Porto have been to Denmark several times to see the Danish midfielder and Arsenal has also shown interest in the midfielder.[4][5][6] According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf Ajax has offered 7 million euros without success.[7]

He scored for Midtjylland against Manchester United in a 2–1 home win in the Europa League on 18 February 2016.[8] He also scored the opening goal of the second-leg at Old Trafford before Midtjylland went on to lose 5–1 (6–3 on aggregate) to United and bow out of the Europa League.[9]

Celta
Sisto playing for Celta in March 2017

On 31 July 2016, La Liga club Celta de Vigo reached an agreement for the transfer of Sisto,[10] for a fee rumoured to be €5 million.[11] He signed a five-year deal.[12]

He made his debut at the club on 22 August, starting in a 0–1 home loss against CD Leganés.[13] On 25 September he scored for the first time in a 2–0 win at RCD Espanyol, running 80 metres from one penalty area to the other in the final minute.[14] Also in his first season in Galicia, Sisto played 13 games and scored twice as the club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League for the first time. Both of his goals were in either leg of the 4–3 aggregate win over K.R.C. Genk in the quarter-finals in April 2017.[15][16]

In May 2020, Sisto was fined a club record €60,000 by Celta for having driven 3,000 kilometres back to Denmark in March, during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

International career

Since Sisto was not a Danish citizen, but had lived almost his whole life in Denmark, the Danish national team manager Morten Olsen expressed his hope that the player would be eligible for the national squad.[18] Upon receiving his Danish citizenship in December 2014, Sisto was immediately chosen to represent the Denmark national under-21 football team, although in an unofficial match. He was not yet able to represent Denmark in an official international match due to FIFA regulations. On 23 January 2015, he made his debut for the Danish U21 side, scoring a hat-trick in a 7–1 win against Romanian club FC Dinamo București.[19]

On 8 May 2015, Sisto received official word of FIFA's dispensation decision, allowing him to represent Denmark without waiting the obligatory five years following his 18th birthday.[20] Twelve days later, he was called up to the Denmark national football team for its matches against Montenegro and Serbia.

In June 2015, he represented the Denmark U21 team at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic, and scored the last goal in a 2–1 victory against the host nation in the opening match at the Eden Arena in Prague.[21]

Sisto debuted for the Danish national football team on 4 September 2015, in a Euro 2016 qualifying match against Albania. He played the first 45 minutes of the goalless draw before being replaced at halftime by Yussuf Poulsen.[22] He scored his first international goal on 22 March 2018, the only goal of a friendly win over Panama in Copenhagen.[23]

In May 2018 Sisto was named in Denmark’s preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[24] He was also named in the final 23-man team.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of 19 July 2020[26]
Club Season League Cup International Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Midtjylland 2012–13 Danish Superliga 10010–110
2013–14 27623–299
2014–15 228–20248
2015–16 294–134428
2016–17 22–5476
Total 90203320811331
Celta Vigo 2016–17 La Liga 30361132496
2017–18 34521–366
2018–19 25220–272
2019–20 21222–234
Total 1101212413213518
Career total 20032157331024849

International
Statistics accurate as of match played 16 October 2018.[27]
Denmark
YearAppsGoals
201520
201620
201760
2018111
Total211

International goals
Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.[28]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 March 2018Brøndby Stadium, Brøndbyvester, Denmark Panama1–01–0Friendly

Honours

Midtjylland

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References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. "Forslag til Lov om indfødsrets meddelelse" [Proposals to Act on naturalization] (PDF) (in Danish). Danish Parliament. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. "Pione Sisto: the Uganda-born Dane who gunned down Man United and dreams of Barcelona". FourFourTwo. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  4. "Milan: eyes on Pione Sisto. Juve: Almamy Touré farther".
  5. "Arsenal prepared to battle with Barcelona and Juventus for Man City midfielder target". 19 May 2015.
  6. "Arsenal 'prepare SHOCK transfer bid for goal-scoring Danish midfielder'". 19 May 2015.
  7. "Sport - Het laatste nieuws uit Nederland leest u op Telegraaf.nl". Telegraaf. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  8. "Midtjylland 2-1 Manchester United". Mail Online. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. Johnston, Neil (25 February 2016). "Manchester United 5-1 FC Midtjylland (agg 6-3)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  10. "El internacional danés Pione Sisto enriquece el ataque celeste" [Danish international Pione Sisto bolsters the celeste attack] (in Spanish). Celta de Vigo. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  11. "Pione Sisto, una bala para el Celta" [Pione Sisto, a bullet to Celta] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  12. Smith, Jamie (1 August 2016). "Pione Sisto joins Celta Vigo". Goal. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  13. "Estreno de oro del Leganés en Primera" [Golden debut of Leganés in Primera] (in Spanish). Marca. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  14. "Golazo a la carrera de Sisto... ¡tras conducir 80 metros!" [Amazing running goal by Sisto... after driving 80 metres!]. Marca (in Spanish). 25 September 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  15. "Ryan beaten three times at Celta Vigo but Genk still alive". SBS. 14 April 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  16. "Genk 1 Celta Vigo 1 (3-4 agg): Berizzo's side into first major semi-final". FourFourTwo. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  17. "Celta's Sisto fined for driving home to Denmark: reports". France 24. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. "Peter Bonde håber på dansk pas til Pione Sisto". Politiken. 5 August 2014.
  19. "European U21 championship players to watch include Hughes and Sisto". ESPN. 17 June 2015.
  20. "Lykkelig Pione Sisto klar til det danske landshold". Ekstra Bladet. 8 May 2015.
  21. "Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark". UEFA. 17 June 2015.
  22. "Albania refuse to yield to Denmark pressure". UEFA. 4 September 2015.
  23. "Sizzling Sisto gives Denmark win over 10-man Panama in friendly". Reuters. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  24. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced?". Goal. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  25. "Tottenham Playmaker Eriksen Keys Talented Denmark's World Cup Fortunes". Sports Illustrated. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  26. "Pione Sisto". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  27. Pione Sisto at National-Football-Teams.com
  28. "Sisto, Pione". National Football Teams. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
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